Fine control apparatus for roller feed



Jan. 13, 1970' lSAMU IMAI 3,489,046

FINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR ROLLER FEED Filed Oct. 31, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

FIG.2

PRIOR ART INVENTOR; [SQ M [mu Jan. 13, 1970 ISAMU lMAl 3,489,046

FINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR ROLLER FEED Filed Oct. 31, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR:

m [mu Jan. 13, 1970 |5AMU |MA| 3,489,046

FINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR ROLLER FEED Filed Oct- 51, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR: c fizz ll United States Patent 3,489,046 FINE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR ROLLER FEED Isamu Imai, Nakagun Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as-

signor t0 Kabushiki-Kaisha Amada, Tokyo, Japan, a company of Japan Filed Oct. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 679,500 Claims priority, application Japan, June 1, 1967, 42/34,463 Int. Cl. B26d 5/20 US. Cl. 83-245 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for fine control of roller-type material feed in an automatic press and the like, the latter having cooperating die and punch means of which one is reciprocable with respect to the other, roller-type material feed means for guiding material to and from the die and punch means, and control means for operating the feed means; the control means including an eccentric plate actuated by the drive means of the press during each pressing operation, a connecting rod linked to said eccentric plate, and a swing arm pivotally connected to the end of the connecting rod and acting upon at least one of the feed means, to rotate the same by a predetermined angle; and means for adjusting the effective radius of rotation of the swing arm upon actuation of the connecting rod by the eccentric plate.

This invention provides an apparatus which finely controls the feed by roller-type feed means, to be used mainly for automatic feeding in small presses and the like.

Feeders of materials presently used for conventional small presses are not provided with any apparatus which would finely control its feed, and the latter is controlled by adjusting the eccentricity of an eccentric plate which is mounted on a conventional driving shaft (or crank shaft or eccentric shaft) of the press.

Generally in press work it has been strongly desired to provide a finer control of the material feed in order to save material as well as to avoid any misoperation. There has always been the problem that the operator has to adjust very often the eccentricity of the above-mentioned eccentric plate which is normally located at a relatively high position on the press.

It is the primary object of this invention to solve this problem so as to make the operation of the press or the like machine safer and more economical.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a fine roller-feed control apparatus which is relatively simple in its construction and maintenance, and adaptable to all kinds of presses.

According to one of the main features of the invention, a new apparatus is provided between the eccentric plate in the drive mechanism of the press and the like machine and the feed-roller assembly, which includes a mechanism to finely control the material feed.

Basically, the improvement provides means for adjusting the effective radius of rotation of a swing arm forming part of the control mechanism of the press which interconnects the drive mechanism and at least one of the material feed means, upon actuation of the afore-mentioned eccentric plate, by the intermediary of a connecting rod also forming part of the control mechanism.

The adjusting means constitutes, in a preferred exemplary embodiment, the pivotal connection between the swing arm and the connecting rod. Preferably, the pivotal connection includes an eccentric shaft passing through respective terminal portions of the swing arm and the connecting rod.

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In an exemplary structural solution, the middle portion of the shaft is made eccentric, and the end of the connecting rod is connected to this middle portion.

According to a secondary feature, the terminal portion of the connecting rod may be constituted by a screw-type fitting which provides additional longitudinal adjustment with respect to the connecting rod.

According to another important feature, one end of the eccentric shaft is formed as a worm wheel, in engagement with a worm forming part of the adjusting means, thereby allowing precise setting of the afore-mentioned radius of rotation by changing the useful length of the swing arm in its interaction with the connecting rod.

The worm and worm wheel structure may be provided with immobilizing means, consisting for example of bolt and nut means acting upon respective ends of a shaft on which the worm is mounted, for tightening the shaft and the worm with respect to the swing arm.

According to yet another important feature of the invention, a first eccentricity is provided between the center of the conventional eccentric plate and the point at which the connecting rod is connected to said plate, while a second eccentricity, smaller than the first-named one, is defined between the actual pivotal connection, between the swing arm and the connecting rod, and the total length of the swing arm; the second eccentricity allows fine adjustment of the material feed, even during operation, independently from the coarse adjustment provided by the first eccentricity.

The various objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred, exemplary embodiment, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic, frontal view of a conventional press showing a conventional control mechanism for actuating roller-type feed means;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the feed mechanism forming part of the prior-art press according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the main parts of an exemplary embodiment of a fine roller-feed control apparatus according to the invention, to be incorporated in and used in conjunction with a press like the one shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus, taken along line IVIV of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration similar to that of FIG. 2 but relating to the inventive apparatus as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 when associated with the press of FIG. 1.

The roller-feed mechanism of conventional presses will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A small press is shown, as a matter of example, which is provided with leftand right-hand roller assemblies R and R to feed a material M toward the right-hand side of the press, as viewed in the drawing, and shown by an arrow, over a bottom die 5 which is adapted to mate with an upper punch 3 fixed to reciprocable ram 1. The eccentricity E of an eccentric plate 7 may be changed with respect to the center line XX of a crank pin 10 (see FIG. 2), by adjusting the position 9 at which a connecting rod 11' is secured in a pivotable manner to the eccentric plate 7.

An upper swing arm 13' is actuated by the connecting rod 11 and, by its reciprocation, rotates a driving roller 15 of the left-hand roller assembly R about the shaft center 0 to a degree corresponding to the eccentricity E. The roller 15 further rotates, by reciprocation to the same degree as afore-mentioned, over a driving roller 21 of the right-hand roller assembly R the latter about the shaft center 0', through the intermediary of a lower swing arm 14, a connecting rod 17, and a right-hand swing arm 19, and also an associated driven roller 16 thereabove.

Then follows a pair of driving and driven rollers, including the afore-mentioned roller 21 and a roller 22, respectively, carrying out the commonly known intermittent motion which feeds the material M in the direction as shown by the afore-mentioned arrow. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the feeding of the material M will vary, upon each actuation of the system constituted by the elements 7911'13-1417-19 with the associated pairs of rollers 1516 and 21-22, in accordance with the increase or decrease of the rotational angle of the upper swing arm 13. Thus, while the material is being fed, the end surface of the punch 3 or the leading end of a pilot punch associated therewith moves independently from the material, and then when the roller assemblies R and R are in their inoperative positions, the pressing operation is carried out in a known manner.

In the following, the fine roller-feed control apparatus according to the invention will be described on the basis of FIGS. 3 to wherein FIGS. 3 and 4 show the main parts of the inventive apparatus, to be incorporated in and used in conjunction with a press and the like machine such as shown, for example, in FIG. 1, while FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration allowing a comparison with the prior art devices, with reference to the similar illustration of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a fitting 12 on one end of a connecting rod 11 according to the invention (similar in its function to the rod 11' described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2). One end of the rod 11 is rotatably mounted on the middle part 33 of an eccentric shaft 31 while the other end is connected in the conventional manner to the eccentric plate 7 at the position 9, with the eccentricity E (see FIGS. 1 and 5). A worm wheel 35 is formed on one end of the shaft 31, and the middle part 33 is offset by the eccentricity e from the center line Y--Y of the shaft 31. The other shaft end 37 and the worm wheel 35 are rotatably mounted in an inventive upper swing arm 13 (similar in its function to the arm 13' described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2) at the top end of the latter.

A shaft 43 of a worm 41, which is in engagement with the worm wheel 35, is rotatably supported by the upper swing arm 13 through a bearing 45, but after the adjustment of the control mechanism is set, can be fixed with respect to the swing arm 13 by way of a bolt head 47 and a nut 49, shown as a matter of example of conventional immobilizing means.

Adequate graduations (not shown) are provided on the end surface of the worm shaft 43 so as to enable the operator of the press to observe the eccentricity e. A lower boss of the arm 13 is fixed to a shaft 51 (see FIG. 4) of the driving roller 15 which in turn rotates the driven roller 16 in direct ratio. The lower swing arm 14 which forms a bell-crank with the upper swing arm 13 is connected to the rod 17 at one end and at its other end to the right-hand swing arm 19. Thus the movements of the upper swing arm 13 are transmitted to the leftand right-hand roller assemblies R and R so as to feed the material M intermittently in the indicated direction.

Referring to FIG. 5, the essential function of the inventive apparatus shall now be explained in more detail. The position P corresponds to the center line YY of the eccentric shaft 31 forming part of the upper swing arm 13, as shown in FIG. 4. The position P corresponds to the center line ZZ of the eccentric portion of the shaft 31 contained in the fitting 12 of the connecting rod 11, also as shown in FIG. 4. The eccentricity e is thus given by P -P By rotating the position P about the position P by means of the worm 41 and the worm wheel 35, and fixing it at a desired position, the length of O-P varies, and accordingly the rotational angle of the arm 13 about the shaft center 0 is finely adjusted at a given reciprocating movement of'the rod 11. In other words, according to the increase or decrease of the length OP the rotational angle decreases or increases, thus by adjusting the length of O-P the effective length of the swing arm 13 becomes longer or shorter than the original length O-P enabling the angle to be finely adjusted.

The operational sequence of the exemplary embodiment of the inventive apparatus shall be explained hereunder in more detail. Firstly, a material M is fed into the roller assemblies R and R between their respective driving and driven rollers 15, 16 and 21, 22, respectively, by making the necessary roller-gap adjustment. After setting the eccentricity E on the plate 7 to give a certain feed, the nut 49 fastened to the arm 13 is loosened and then, by rotating the bolt head 47, the worm 41 and the worm wheel 35 are rotated which, in turn, rotates the eccentric shaft 31 centering around the position P thus adjusting the length of O-P in FIG, 5. Thus the rotational angle of the driving roller 15 and also of the driven roller 16 of the left-hand roller assembly R is finely adjusted by way of the upper swing arm 13. Said movement is further transmitted to the right-hand roller assembly R through the elements 14, 17 and 19, as explained before, so that the rotational angle of the roller assembly R is equally fine-adjusted. Corresponding to the adjustment, the feed of the material M is also finely increased or decreased, as the case may be. Thus by tightening the nut 49 at an adequate position of P the desired fine adjustment is completed.

As explained above, by virtue of this invention, it is now possible for the press operator to easily make a precise fine adjustment by having the eccentricity E on the eccentric plate 7 set at a roughly selected position only at the beginning, and thereafter by adjusting the worm shaft 43 which is easily accessible, being located at a relatively low position while the eccentric plate 7 is usually located in an elevated portion of the press. The operator is thus free from the troublesome work to adjust very often the eccentricity of the plate 7 so that his efficiency in production will be improved accordingly.

The foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred, exemplary embodiment of the inventive apparatus, which is intended to include all changes and modifications, as well as additions to the example described, which are within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

It will be understood, for example, that the length adjustment between the interacting elements (rod 11 and arm 13) maybe reversed so as to shorten one rather than the other by eccentric or other corresponding means, e.g., by a reversal of conventional structural elements.

The inventive fine adjustment may of course be associated with presses and other machines of this character where the lower one of the cooperating die and punch members reciprocate as long as a rectilinear material movement is required therebetween for successive press or similar operations. Also, the fine adjustment may act on the right-hand rather than the illustrated left-hand assembly, or on both if necessary.

The eccentricity adjustment at the eccentric plate may be omitted altogether if the fine adjustment, coupled with the additional lengthwise adjustment of the connecting rod, provides adequate ranges of overall adjustment for the material feed.

It should be noted for the sake of clarity that in FIG. 2 the upper portion shows the eccentric plate and the crank pin 10 in a plane perpendicular to that of the drawing sheet while the lower portion is in the same plane as that of FIG. 1 (and the drawing). In FIG. 5, the schematic illustration is consistent with FIG. 1 and the lower portion of FIG. 2 (except of course for the inventive elements 11, 13 which substitute the corresponding elements 11', 13 of the prior-art structure).

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for fine control of roller-type material feed in an automatic press and the like, comprising: cooperating die and punch means forming part of the press, a portion thereof being reciprocable with another portion thereof to perform the pressing operation; drive means for operating said die and punch means; a pair of rollertype material feed means for guiding material to and from the region of said die and punch means; control means interconnecting said drive means and at least one of said feed means, including an eccentric plate actuated by an element of said drive means during each pressing operation, a connecting rod linked with one of its ends to a portion of said eccentric plate, and a swing arm pivotally connected to the other end of said connecting rod and acting upon an element of said one feed means to rotate the same by a predetermined angle upon movement of said eccentric plate; and means for adjusting the effective radius of rotation of said swing arm upon actuation of said connecting rod by said eccentric plate, wherein said adjusting means constitutes the pivotal connection between said swing arm and said connecting rod, and wherein said pivotal connection includes an eccentric shaft passing through respective terminal portions of said swing arm and said connecting rod.

2. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the terminal portion of said swing arm is bifurcated and straddles the terminal portion of said connecting rod, the latter being pivoted about an eccentric middle portion of said shaft which passes through the bifurcated terminal portions of said swing arm.

3. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said terminal portion of the connecting rod is constituted by a screw-type fitting providing longitudinal adjustment with respect to said connecting rod.

4. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein one end of said shaft is formed as a worm wheel, said adjusting means including a worm in engagement with said worm wheel and allowing precise setting of said radius of rotation by changing the useful length of said swing arm in its interaction with said connecting rod.

5. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said adjusting means includes immobilizing means for preventing displacement of said worm with respect to said worm wheel once said setting has been made.

6. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said immobilizing means includes a shaft for said Worm as well as bolt and nut means at respective ends of said shaft for tightening the latter with respect to said swing arm.

7. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the connecting point of said connecting rod to said portion of the eccentric plate defines a first eccentricity with respect to the center of said eccentric plate, said first eccentricity serving for initial coarse adjustment of said material feed, while said pivotal connection between the swing arm and the connecting rod defines a second eccentricity with respect to the total length of said swing arm, said second eccentricity being smaller than said first eccentricity and serving for operational fine adjustment of said material feed independently from said coarse adjustment.

-8. The fine-control apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said element of the one feed means is a roller adapted to advance said material in conjunction with a companion driven roller, said second eccentricity controlling the effective radius of rotation of said roller element of the one feed means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,509 5/1878 Thompson 83244 X 286,373 10/1883 Bauman i 83244 313,172 3/1885 Calhoun 83244 JAMES M. MEIS'IER, Primary Examiner US. 01. xn. 83-244; 226M146 

